![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Votes_for_Woman%2C_Suffrage_Rallying_Song.jpg/220px-Votes_for_Woman%2C_Suffrage_Rallying_Song.jpg)
Edward Moore Zimmerman, often given as E. M. Zimmerman, (9 January 1859 — December 6, 1922) was an American composer, choir conductor, organist, bass, and music educator.[1] A longtime resident of Philadelphia, he is best remembered as a composer of hymns, and for co-writing the suffragist anthem "Votes for Women: Suffrage Rallying Song" (1915) with his wife, the soprano Marie Kunkel Zimmerman.
Life and career
Born on 9 January 1859 in Wilmington, Delaware, Edward M. Zimmerman studied singing in London with George Henschel, and in New York City with Emilio Belari and John Howard.[1] He began his career as a bass vocalist at the Household of Faith Church in Wilmington with an 1883 article in the Wilmington Daily Republican describing him as "a popular and well known local singer".[2]
By 1886 Zimmerman had moved to Philadelphia where he was a member of the Mendelssohn Male Quartet,[3] a professional vocal chamber group established from within the Chautauqua movement.[4] He became a church soloist in Philadelphia, holding positions at the St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church and the First Universalist Church. He entered the University of Pennsylvania where he studied music composition with Hugh Archibald Clarke. He also studied composition with William Gilchrist,[1] and appeared as a soloist in concerts with the Mendelssohn Club, a Philadelphia choir founded by Gilchrist.[5]
Zimmerman held posts as choirmaster at several different Philadelphia area churches during his career, among them the Church of St. Luke and The Epiphany, Memorial Baptist Church, and Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church in Germantown.[1] He also held the post of organist at the latter church,[6] and worked as a voice teacher in Philadelphia.[1] He composed the hymns "All Things Beautiful and Fair" and "Blessed Jesus, ere we part".[7]
Zimmerman was married to the soprano and voice teacher Marie Kunkel Zimmerman.[1] Marie, born with the name Mamie Kunkel,[8] was the daughter of actress Ada Proctor and theatre manager, minstrel show performer, and songwriter George Kunkel Sr. (1823–1885).[9] Her brother was George Kunkel Jr. (1866- 1937);[8][9] a silent film actor and opera singer.[10][11] With his wife, Zimmerman composed the song "Votes for Women: Suffrage Rallying Song" (1915) which was dedicated to Anna Howard Shaw, President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.[12][13] He would occasionally sing in concerts with his wife, including performing in a vocal quartet with her in chamber music concerts sponsored by the Manuscript Music Society of Philadelphia at Musical Fund Hall.[14]
Zimmerman died of Bright's disease on December 6, 1922, at Jewish Hospital in Philadelphia.[1]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g "E. M. Zimmerman; Was Known Here as Choirmaster, Teacher, and Composer". Philadelphia Inquirer. December 7, 1922. p. 27.
- ^ "Church Entertainment". Wilmington Daily Republican. October 2, 1883. p. 4.
- ^ "Concert at Heidelberg Church". Philadelphia Times. February 4, 1886. p. 2.
- ^ Lush, p. 202
- ^ "Concert By the Mendelssohn Club". Philadelphia Inquirer. May 6, 1886. p. 2.
- ^ American Guild of Organists (January 1907). Stubbs, G. Edward (ed.). "Ecclesiastical Music; Christmas Services". The New Music Review and Church Music Review. VI (62). H. W. Gray Company: 127.
- ^ "E. M. Zimmerman". hymnary.org. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
- ^ a b 1880 United States Federal Census for Mamie Kunkel, Maryland, Baltimore (Independent City), Baltimore, 059, 17-296J., C274, page number 7, Supervisor's District Number 1
- ^ a b "An Old Time Minstrel Dead". Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. January 29, 1885. p. 7.
- ^ Katchmer, p. 194-195
- ^ Simpson, p. 152
- ^ "The Centenary of the Nineteenth Amendment and US women's right to vote". Americas and Oceania Collections blog. British Library. 26 August 2020.
- ^ Crew, p. 337
- ^ "Philadelphia". The Musical Courier. XXX (24): 7. June 5, 1895.
Bibliography
- Crew, Danny O. (2015). Suffragist Sheet Music: An Illustrated Catalogue of Published Music Associated with the Women's Rights and Suffrage Movement in America, 1795-1921, with Complete Lyrics. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476607443.
- Katchmer, George A. (2015). "Kunkel, George". A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476609058.
- {{cite book|title=Music in the Chautauqua Movement: From 1874 to the 1930s|first=Paige|last= Lush|year= 2013|isbn=9781476606194|publisher=[[McFarland & Company}}
- Simpson, Adrienne (1996). Opera's Farthest Frontier: A History of Professional Opera in New Zealand. Reed Publishing. ISBN 9780790005119.